Digital Strategy at HHS

Incorporating principles of the Digital Government Strategy radically improves how we conduct business and communicate with the public. Putting them into practice to create a modern digital strategy, prepares us to meet whatever new advances the future brings. Learn more about HHS Digital Strategy Milestones by using the following links: HTML · XML · JSON

What is the Digital Government Strategy?

The Digital Government Strategy challenges us to take a hard look at all of our tools and figure out how they can work together to better serve us and you. Improvements to our websites and tools allow you to access government information anywhere, anytime, using any device. This makes the government’s wealth of knowledge easier to find and use. Additional coordination and consistency across agencies will foster innovation that currently is impossible.

What Should I Know?

From now on, all new federal digital projects must comply with the Digital Government Strategy. All projects must be:

Information-CentricInstead of locking information in a PDF or spreadsheet, we should share this content as individual pieces of data in the way that is most useful for you. By doing this, we encourage others to take and reuse it. This allows for innovations beyond the capabilities of a single agency. We accomplish this through the agency’s open data resource, healthdata.gov and through our API-enabled databases featured in the developers’ center.

On a Shared PlatformCurrently, federal agencies have separate IT contracts and systems in place. However, multiple agencies may be using the same development platform—under different contracts and with unlinked systems. By sharing IT systems within other agencies, HHS can help the government work more efficiently, reduce costs, streamline Web development, and ensure consistency in how we create and deliver information. Use the link to browse a list of our shared services.

Customer-CentricHHS is comprised of 29 offices and divisions, including the Center for Disease Control, National Institutes of Health, and many others. But that doesn’t mean that our information should be divided by these groups. Visiting one site for information on a topic, such as the flu, is more helpful than visiting a department’s website, a division’s website, or an office’s website to find the information you need. Creating one-stop websites with the user in mind improves how we present information. By designing and developing websites with the customer in mind, we better serve the American public.

Secure and PrivateAs we open our data and information to the public, it is important that we do so in a way that is safe and secure. This is very important as we move onto mobile devices and platforms. Developing centralized security, privacy, and data protection measures across our digital landscape will keep your information and ours safe. We will ensure consistent, sustainable policies and procedures by implementing these standard guidelines across all HHS digital platforms.

How You Can Get Involved?

Implementing the Digital Government Strategy is not the responsibility of one office or the IT department. The American public and government employees can also support this new approach to digital services.